Psalm 51:5-53

English Standard Version

⁵Behold, ^(A)I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
⁶Behold, you delight in truth in ^(B)the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

⁷Purge me ^(C)with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
    ^(D)wash me, and I shall be ^(E)whiter than snow.
⁸Let me hear joy and gladness;
    ^(F)let the bones ^(G)that you have broken rejoice.
⁹^(H)Hide your face from my sins,
    and ^(I)blot out all my iniquities.
¹⁰^(J)Create in me a ^(K)clean heart, O God,
    and ^(L)renew a right^[a] spirit within me.
¹¹^(M)Cast me not away from your presence,
    and take not ^(N)your Holy Spirit from me.
¹²Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and uphold me with a willing spirit.

¹³Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
    and sinners will ^(O)return to you.
¹⁴Deliver me from ^(P)bloodguiltiness, O God,
    O ^(Q)God of my salvation,
    and ^(R)my tongue will sing aloud of your ^(S)righteousness.
¹⁵O Lord, open my lips,
    and my mouth will declare your praise.
¹⁶^(T)For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
    you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
¹⁷The sacrifices of God are ^(U)a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

¹⁸^(V)Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
    ^(W)build up the walls of Jerusalem;
¹⁹then will you delight in ^(X)right sacrifices,
    in burnt offerings and ^(Y)whole burnt offerings;
    then bulls will be offered on your altar.

The Steadfast Love of God Endures

To the choirmaster. A Maskil^[b] of David, when ^(Z)Doeg, the Edomite, came and told Saul, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”

52 Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?
    The steadfast love of God endures all the day.
²Your ^(AA)tongue plots destruction,
    like ^(AB)a sharp razor, you ^(AC)worker of deceit.
³You love evil more than good,
    and ^(AD)lying more than speaking what is right. Selah
⁴You love all words that devour,
    O deceitful tongue.

⁵But God will break you down forever;
    he will snatch and ^(AE)tear you from your tent;
    he will uproot you from ^(AF)the land of the living. Selah
⁶The righteous shall ^(AG)see and fear,
    and shall ^(AH)laugh at him, saying,
⁷“See the man who would not make
    God his refuge,
but ^(AI)trusted in the abundance of his riches
    and sought refuge in his own destruction!”^[c]

⁸But I am like ^(AJ)a green olive tree
    in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God
    forever and ever.
⁹I will thank you forever,
    because you have done it.
I will wait for your name, ^(AK)for it is good,
    in the presence of the ^(AL)godly.

There Is None Who Does Good

To the choirmaster: according to ^(AM)Mahalath. A Maskil^[d] of David.

53 ^(AN)The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
there is none who does good.

²God looks down from heaven
on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand,^[e]
who seek after God.

³They have all fallen away;
together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.

⁴Have those who work evil no knowledge,
who eat up my people as they eat bread,
and do not call upon God?

⁵There they are, in great terror,
^(AO)where there is no terror!
For God ^(AP)scatters the bones of him who encamps against you;
you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.